


Dear Old Friend

by Kikithehousemoose



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Magnus Burnsides (mentioned) - Freeform, Merle Highchurch (mentioned), features an OC I randomly generated for this idea, minor spoilers for The Crystal Kingdom arc, not enough to tag, spoilers for Taako's backstory, takes place Post-Crystal Kingdom but Pre-Lunar III, vague implications of abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-18
Updated: 2017-03-18
Packaged: 2018-10-07 01:56:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10349826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kikithehousemoose/pseuds/Kikithehousemoose
Summary: Taako gets recognized, but not for the reason he thinks.(Post Crystal Kingdom, Pre Lunar III)





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is not only my first TAZ fic, but also my first fic in a while and is not beta'd, soooo hope it's good. I am IN LOVE with TAZ and have many many more fic ideas, so look out for more content. Sorry if the formatting is kind of messed up, I'm REALLY not good at that stuff.

Being on a secret moon base was cool and all, but sometimes the hundred or so people there were just  _ too much.  _ There were two things guaranteed to make Taako uncomfortable; feelings and familiarity. Sure enough, for one reason or another, every familiar face on the base was openly distraught in the loss of their beloved coworker Boyland. So distraught, in fact, that the poor dude’s Rights of Remembrance were pushed back every time someone dared bring it up. Say his name around  _ anyone  _ other than the three Reclaimers and they would be reduced to little more than a sobbing pile of mush. It was just gross by this point and Taako knew he and the boys had to take a break from that whole mess. No one even batted an eye when they requested a little bit of time on the ground.

 

It was still odd being in Neverwinter-- each of the men caught themselves glancing up at the sky as though th ey hadn’t  _ just  _ taken care of the world’s impending crystal doom. But Neverwinter was bigger and merrier than the moon base by far and offered plenty of welcome distractions. Merle broke off relatively early, muttering something about a different kind of thrall, which would have been concerningly ominous if it weren’t  _ Merle.  _ Magnus seemed torn to leave either of their sides but eventually wandered off to some shop or another after Taako insisted upon him paying for drinks if he stayed. Thus, the wizard was alone to do as he pleased, and damn if he didn’t go straight to a bookstore, like a  _ nerd. _

 

In truth, he didn’t particularly enjoy reading most of what they had, since it was either too far below his reading level or boring as  _ shit.  _ Compared to a tavern, though, it was a quaint little sanctuary where no one would bother him for sitting alone or bat an eye at him just staring off into space for an hour. No one went to a bookstore seeking company and Taako planned to take full advantage of that. All there was to do now was sit back in a corner somewhere with Uncle John’s Elven Bathroom Reader and a nice frosted glass of--

 

“Excuse me, wizard?”

 

Taako froze. He had second thoughts about even answering-- just because he wore robes doesn’t automatically make him a  _ wizard.  _ There were  _ plenty  _ of other magical classes that wore robes. For all this idiot knows, he could be a powerful, vengeful warlock who was just  _ waiting  _ to be called a wizard  _ one more time---  _

“Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees?” he answered, turning slowly and dramatically to the side to face the clerk who had addressed him. 

 

A grey-eyed, red-haired female stout halfling gaped at him from behind the counter. She looked far older than she sounded and for a moment he was concerned she might just die right there from shock, but she steadied herself on her counter and patted herself on the face as though coming out of a dream. 

“You… you look so familiar. I know you. I  _ know  _ I know you, but I can’t remember where.”

 

_ Great.  _ So much for being left alone. He tilted his hood down over his face for only a moment before looking back up again with a plastered smile, eyes drilling holes into this odd old woman. 

“Well I sure as hell don’t remember you, so you better jog that memory quick dearie or this is going to get  _ awkward.”  _

 

The woman was staring holes right back at him, seeming to focus all her energy on scouring her decrepit brain to try and put a name to a face. Like, shit, it shouldn’t be  _ that  _ hard. He’d done enough shows in Neverwinter that he could probably just say the word ‘sizzle’ and people would come flocking. Honestly, watching her work so hard was getting kind of tedious. 

 

“Taako Taaco. Ring any bells? If you’re gonna make a scene I’d rather you do it quickly. I do have business here, you know.”

 

Frustratingly, she continued scrunching up her face for about a half a minute more. Just when he’d gotten the mind to turn around and waltz right back out through the door, she gasped, her whole body curling up around her face in excitement when whatever connection she still had to make finally put itself together in her head.

“TAAKO?! Oh my  _ gods,  _ look at you! You’re so  _ big!  _ I didn’t think you would  _ survive  _ this long!”

 

He froze in the doorway, muscles spasming in confusion as he blinked at her, taken aback. “I’m sorry, what?”

She all but hopped onto the counter, revealing rather typical shopkeep garb with a welded metal foot supporting her on her right side, so accustomed to her that it almost seemed natural. She laughed.

“Of course you don’t recognize me. I only knew you for what, a year?” she chuckled, “It’s your book buddy, Rosula!” 

 

Taako, too, looked at her incredulously for a second, scanning her up and down with striking doubt in his heart. That name was familiar, sure, but who exactly---

 

_ “Hey,” she said softly, crouching down beside his spot on the log. He didn’t look up from where he was patching his hat, knowing that most of this lot didn’t take kindly to eye contact. She sighed.  _

_ “I saw how scared you were when we fought off those tieflings. You really don’t have a sword or anything, do you? Not even a dagger?”  _

_ He glanced at her warily before frowning back down into his wizard cap. “ ‘ve got magic.”  _

_ She laughed. “Oh really? Cause you sure didn’t use it. You know Arnogar is going to kill you if he finds out you knew healing magic and made them waste a potion on Kasmin.” _

_ His frown deepened, knowing he was being called out. “Well… never said anything about healing magic…” _

_ Rosula rolled her eyes, pulling out a small leather-bound journal from her back pocket. She handed it to the young elf who finally looked up at her, eyes hesitant. He reached out for it haltingly, as though she would pull it away, but he was able to take it without issue. Upon opening it, he was met with a slew of words and symbols that made his head spin. He knew it was written in Common, the words were just so long and all the dots seemed to merge in and out with each other as though swimming.  _

_ A finger reached over from beside him and underlined the first word with its nail. Taako’s eyes followed, being able to pick it out from the mess of symbols once the voice from beside him spoke. “Prestidigitation. I’m kind of amazed you don’t already know it. It’s kind of magic 101. It’s not going to let you attack anyone or anything, but if you need to you can use it distract someone long enough to get away.” _

_ His slender fingers moved over the word, already feeling the magic needed for the spell gathering in his fingertips. It took a moment, but eventually he saw it clearly in his mind. “Prestidigitation…” _

_ She smiled. “I’m not a wizard like you wanna be or anything, but I can teach you some basic stuff like that when we’re stopped like this. Here, you can even keep that until you reach the higher level stuff.”  _

_ The young elf elf held his breath, waiting for a catch to the deal, and then looked at her curiously when none came. “..Really?” _

_ “Really. We’ll be like.. book buddies~.” _

  
  


Taako blinked out of the memory, flabbergasted expression taking in the aged halfling in front of him. 

 

“Rosula? Damn, you’re not doing so hot. You’re old as balls, my friend.”

 

She snickered. “That’s what happens to survivors, my friend. We get old and ugly. Your time will come eventually.” She shook her head. “Come on in the back, honey, we have to catch up. Once Arnogar went berserk I was sure I’d never see you again. You were kind of easy pickings, you know.”

 

Not having much else to do, he resigned to following her behind the counter and into her own private corner room of the store. He snorted. “Tell me about it. Well, fucking surprise, I’m better than ever. I’m kind of a  _ big deal,  _ you know. I’ve got my own squad now.”

That seemed to excite her. “Really?! Oh wow, I never expected… do you still cook? I know Fantasy Chopped was big in places like Goldcliff for a while but it’s hard to imagine a cooking show would get too far off the ground..”

“ _ Listen,  _ your little buddy Taako’s branched out. Cooking just wasn’t  _ cutting  _ it anymore, y’know? I’m a lot more of a free spirit now. I go around killing people for money with a bunch of idiots who wouldn’t know cumin from cardamom.” 

A new grin spread across her face. “No shit. You’re really out there picking fights? Taako Taaco, I never thought I would see the day. Are you a traveling sellsword then or what? I know a few other shopkeepers around here who could use some extra help, if you need the work.”

“Psh.” he waved his hand. “Thanks but no thanks. I’ve got my own…  _ people  _ I take orders from. They tell me what to go get from where and I swoop in, do some magic, bada-boom bada-bing the day is saved. Get some pretty sick loot out of the deal, too, if I’m honest with ya.” 

“That sounds amazing. I like the security of Neverwinter, and the constant income is nice, but sometimes I just wish I could go back out on the road again… Less responsibility that way. People in Rockport wouldn’t know someone you wronged from Goldcliff, and so on. You can get away with just about anything on the road.”

The wizard was suddenly glad elves tended not to sweat. “So how long has this little nook of yours been up and running? I never saw you as the settle down type.”

“Oh, years. Tea?” he shook his head, “I’ll have some. Once our little group disbanded, I ran as fast as my legs could carry me, all the way to Aempleforth. I stayed at the tavern there for a while because people really liked hearing my songs… they don’t really get a lot of action there, you know. This one man, Bexley, he’d come every night just to hear me.” She held out an empty mug as a second invitation and again Taako refused. She shrugged and put her own cup together. “You can probably guess how the rest went. Got married, times got tough, moved to Neverwinter for a better chance. No kids, but we had about 10 dogs over the years. Eventually I ran out of stuff to sing about, so I went out for one last hoorah on the road and got all these books you see here. Been a shopkeeper ever since.”

 

He nodded absently, having completely spaced out of boredom. “Cool beans. Speaking of, as much as I adore catching up with you Rosie, I did come here to.. peruse that book collection of yours.”

 

“Oh! Oh, of course. Go right ahead, don’t let me keep you. Let me know if you see any you like and you can have it. I’ve done enough business to be able to give you something on the house.” She winked at her great favor she was doing him and shooed him out of the back room to go wander around the store and read. She made no move to follow him back out to the front of the store, meaning she probably expected him to be the only customer for a while. Just what he wanted.

 

~~~~ 

 

On his way out, he paid for the books anyway. 

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> 1) Everything about Rosula was randomly generated. In case it was unclear, she's a bard.  
> 2) Taako was still young in the flashback but the age was intentionally ambiguous. This was not his first caravan but definitely not his last.  
> 3) I used to not have this dyslexic Taako headcanon but it just kind of happened naturally and now I'm super into it????? Yes please to self-educated dyslexic Taako.  
> 4) I was gonna have Rosula be the one to give him Bathroom Reader but that seemed like too much for a bard.  
> 5) Aempleforth isn't a real place obvs I was just sick of the like four/five cities Griffin has literally ever mentioned.  
> 6) You might think Taako was cute paying for the books but they were copper coins. Rosie got a lil' chuckle out of that.


End file.
